Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 3

amazing aroma that radiated from him. Certainly not an aftershave he was familiar with. It was more like a memory than a distinct smell. A warm summer evening as lightning streaks through the heavens and the first thunder cracks across the sky. "Where did you come from anyway?" he said, squeezing a little tighter. Nice muscle tone. Could hold on to those arms for a long while and wouldn't it be just perfect finding yourself wrapped up in them. "I thought I was the only person around. I wouldn't have been dancing in the aisles otherwise."
    "You do it a lot."
    "Only when I'm on my own. What are you, a stalker or something?"
    "I'm a watcher. I don't know any stalkers; where are they from?"
    "People watcher, huh? That's cool. I do that on my days off. We're a great species, don't you think?"
    "You are completely fascinating." That smile again. Jesse took a deep breath and tried to keep his mind on placing one foot in front of the other.
    "Endlessly fascinating," Jesse murmured. Aren't you just .
    ****
    "You've really never heard of Elvis?" This guy was a peach. He was either totally off his rocker or a complete player with the perfect pitch. Not that he'd need a pulling pitch; the guy was like a pot of honey. In the twenty minutes they'd been nattering in the café over coffee, Jesse had lost count of the number of women, and men, who'd doubled back to get a better look at Omar the Impossible. Stunning didn't come close. Otherworldly hung around him like a cloud. Dark, brooding looks with a dangerous edge at complete odds to everything that came out of his mouth. He was so freaking adorable. A kid of about three stopped in the tracks she was running around her mother and made a bee-line for their table.
    "Not yet, pumpkin," Omar said, tweaking her cheek.
    "Next time?"
    "A long time yet. You go enjoy yourself." The kid skittered off in a shriek of giggles.
    "Who was that?"
    "Katie. She's going to be a beauty when she grows up. Shame about her father though. But, you know, I've never really had much opportunity to listen to music of the kind you're telling me about. I'd like to. It seems like fun."
    "I have concert tickets for tomorrow night." Where the hell did that come from? Jesse picked his nails nervously. "If you wanted, maybe we could make it a date?"
    "Tomorrow is a date, yes."
    There was no doubt in the acceptance. The guy stated it like it was a fact. Jesse gave a blinding smile of his own. He'd picked up a stranger at the supermarket. One for the journal. "Shall I pick you up? Where do you live?"
    "Live? Ah, yes. I know the answer to this one." A crinkle of concentration settled over the guy's brow. He looked as though he was working on a solution to the meaning of life. Jesse wanted to reach out and smooth it away. "I'm from out of town," the guy said, startling Jesse out of his daydream. "Just passing through."
    "Where are you staying? Hotel, with friends, with me?" Jesse laughed, but the guy looked like he was actually considering the answer. Would he seriously come home and just…stay? Maybe that would be too weird. A nice weird. A naughty weird. A ridiculously hot weird.
    "Why don't I meet you there?"
    "Good idea." I am losing my mind. Jesse scribbled the theatre name and address on a napkin. "Tomorrow, seven thirty. I'll see you outside."
    "Got it."
    "I should go. Nice to meet you, Omar." Jesse stood to leave. "You won't forget, will you?"
    "I have nothing else to do tomorrow. I won't forget. Thank you for the invitation, Jesse."
    "You're welcome." As Jesse walked away, he had the strangest feeling of being followed. Followed or watched? But then everyone was probably watching him thinking he was a lucky bastard after having coffee with Omar the Impossible. Jesse glanced round for one last look at his new friend but unfortunately, Omar was already out of sight.
    ****
    "Who's playing again?"
    Jesse jumped almost out of his skin. "Where the hell did you come from?"
    "Seven-thirty," Omar said, taking hold of Jesse's wrist and pointing to his watch. "Did you not expect me to be on time?"
    "Just don't creep up on me. I'm sensitive." Sensitive and nervous as hell. Twenty-four hours of daydreaming about his date and he still couldn't get his head around how perfect the guy seemed. Perfect in his quirkiness. Jesse had always had a thing for the oddball guys. It started with a crush on his science teacher in middle school and left a trail of devastation through the halls of geekdom to Iceman, the final conquest.